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How to reference your essay
Depending on your subject, referencing comes in many different styles. The variety can be quite bewildering, and the rule of thumb is, always check the system that your university uses before you start writing. Nine times out of ten, you’ll find that your department has a guide to their preferred referencing style, and if you’re struggling you can always ask a tutor or a friend for help.
Before we go on to discuss the specific types of referencing, though, let’s take a minute to consider some general rules for using quotations and references in essays. In a way, this is more important that the particular style of referencing you need to use – since it’s easy to learn how to use a referencing system, but not so easy to understand how to use quotations to your best advantage. Before you use a reference, ask yourself these two questions:
- Is this really necessary? Don’t use quotations just to fill space, or to make yourself look widely read. If you’re not going to discuss some or all of a reference you’ve used, don’t include it. If a reference contains two relevant sentences separated by two irrelevant sentences, miss out the irrelevant sentences. You can elide them (sentence 1…sentence 2) or you can simply present them as two separate references (source 1 says, “Sentence 1” and then goes on to say, “Sentence 2). Don’t forget to check with your department for presentation and punctuation rules, though.
- Quote, don’t plagiarise. There is absolutely nothing wrong with using material from another source – a critic, a journal, a newspaper article, whatever you want. But make sure you’re clear that you’re doing it. When you paraphrase an author or a critic.
Below is a quick overview and introduction to three of the common forms of referencing – Harvard referencing, OSCOLA referencing and APA referencing. Please note, though, this is not intended to be an exhaustive guide to referencing and you should always check with your university or department before using a referencing system.
Harvard Referencing
As with most referencing systems, Harvard referencing offers styles for in line citation – where the text appears within your essay, and for bibliographies, where you use the reference in your essay and provide details of the full reference at the end.
In line: When using Harvard referencing in-line, all you are required to quote is the author’s surname and the publication date at the end of the quotation – for example:
(Smith 2007)
Bibliography: You need to provide a little more information for a Harvard-style bibliography. It should feature the following items: Name, date, title (italicised), publisher and location:
(Smith 2007, Aspects of Psychological Enquiry, Nonesuch Press, London)
OSCOLA referencing
OSCOLA referencing is used primarily for law essays. OSCOLA is an acronym – it stands for the Oxford Standard for Citation of Legal Authorities. Again, it’s best to see someone in your department for an exhaustive guide to OSCOLA referencing, as it is quite different to other referencing systems.
OSCOLA referencing varies according to the type of case you are working with. The broad categories are as follows:
- UK cases
- European cases
- UK legislation
- EC legislation
- Decisions of the European Commission
- European Court of Human Rights
When selecting a guide to OSCOLA referencing, ensure that it provides guidance on all of these categories.
APA referencing
APA referencing is not totally dissimilar to Harvard referencing. APA stands for American Psychological Association. Like Harvard referencing, APA referencing has guidance for in line and bibliography references.
In line: APA in line references are constructed using the author’s surname, the publication year and the page the reference is taken from (if it is available). Typically the reference itself should be shown between the name/date and the page number. An APA inline reference looks like this:
As Smith (2007) points out “certain written material must be presented within a framework” (p.101)
Bibliography: Again, the bibliography reference style is quite a lot like Harvard referencing. An APA style bibliography reference should be made up of the following elements: Author’s name and initial(s), publication year, title, location and publisher:
Smith, A. (2007). Aspects of Psychological Enquiry, London, Nonesuch Press.
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Other study area articles
- Essay Conclusion
- Essay Format
- Essay Introduction
- Essay Writing And Grammar
- How To Form Your Essay Title
- How To Reference Your Essay
- How To Use Punctuation In An Essay
- How To Write An Essay
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